Belarus-Uzbekistan trade approaching $1bn

MINSK, 23 February (BelTA) – Belarusian Prime Minister Aleksandr Turchin and Uzbekistan Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov held an informal meeting on 23 February to discuss current matters on the bilateral agenda, BelTA learned from the government’s press service.

The meeting took place as part of an official visit of the Belarusian delegation to Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan is a reliable, time-tested partner for Belarus. An active dialogue is maintained between the governments and the parliaments of the two countries, and interregional cooperation is expanding. Mutual trade is constantly growing and approaching $1 billion. There are 229 organizations registered in Uzbekistan with Belarusian residents among their founders.

As noted during the meeting, it is important not just to maintain what has been achieved, but to expand the partnership, filling it with practical content and concrete agreements.

Today Aleksandr Turchin was also made familiar with the operation of Samarkand Automobile Plant (SamAuto) that has been playing a key role in the development of Uzbekistan’s transport infrastructure for a quarter of a century.

The history of the enterprise dates back to 16 March 1999. Over the 25 years of operation the plant has become one of the industry’s flagships, supplying the market with reliable and durable vehicles for transporting passengers and cargoes. SamAuto products contribute to the development of urban infrastructure and rural infrastructure. Over the course of its history the plant has made over 40,000 vehicles. Nowadays the output capacity allows making 5,000 buses of various kinds per annum. The company employs about 1,500 workers. For the sake of uninterrupted servicing of the vehicles the company offers over 1,000 automobile parts and accessories while the broad geography of SamAuto’s presence numbers 23 official dealerships and vehicle service outlets.

Apart from that, Belarus’ prime minister visited a showroom of the SAG group of companies (Sam Antep Gilam), Central Asia’s largest holding company for making carpets and textiles. The factory can make over 12 million m2 of carpets every year. The product choice includes thousands of SKUs with different densities. SAG Group’s products are represented on the Belarusian market via marketplaces as well as retail chains. The fact testifies to the well-developed bilateral trade ties.